was the place on broadway mentioned by Bill and CMC called "Gyros on a Spit?"

I ended up having the gyros platter at George's on Damen. It was good, with a creamy, thick homemade sauce, enough meat for two meals, and included two pita , olives, at least three sliced, red-ripe roma tomatoes, thinly sliced onion, feta, cucumbers, a pepperoncini, very good fries and a drink. I think it was $5.99 or $6.99.

It was prepared by George himself.

The meat actually tasted better reheated the following day.

George's Hot Dogs
1876 N. Damen Ave.
773-227-4034

David Hammond wrote:

Bill wrote:[Hand-cut anything usually seems preferable, I think because the irregularity of the slices, the lack of boring consistency actually makes the food taste "better." I can't quite explain it, but different dimensions of the flavor seem to come forth when the pieces are not so uniform.

Hammond

Well, My take on it is if the meat is sliced thin, more of the meat will be carmelized by the flame and the best part of the gyro is the outside part that is by the flame.

foo d wrote:was the place on broadway mentioned by Bill and CMC called "Gyros on a Spit?"

I don't think so, but it is possible. What I remember about this place was the counter at the front with steam table, a loud tv in the dining room and a kitchen in the back.

Some food items came from the front, some from the back.

I just loved their souvlaki.

Gyros on the Spit was at 3138 N Broadway and closed around 2000. They served very good homemade gyros with excellent tzatziki. Many of their dishes like roast lamb, meatballs, and broad beans, served from a steam table in the front window, were very good also.

Aw, still no suggestions near-south?

Anything down by, say, Midway? Maybe one of the Nicky's-type places?

gleam wrote:Anything down by, say, Midway? Maybe one of the Nicky's-type places?

I wish I could be of more help. Virtually all of the Nicky’s and clones will have gyros. I’ve ordered gyros only at Nicky’s (5801 S Kedzie) and Anthony’s (4750 W 63rd). I recall they were both okay but not exceptional. Frankly I have pretty much given up on gyros because so much of it is crap.

A month ago I split a gyros appetizer at Greek Islands. It was excellent (really good tzatziki too). Maybe get it to go?

definitely calledv gyro on a spit. i agree, the other food was pretty good too.

Thanks for the memories of the Greek place on Broadway. My hubby and I often got takeout there, usually chicken and the wonderful green beans. Unforunately, I don't think we ever tried the gyros that you all are raving about. I referred to one of the workers there as "the not too bad looking Greek guy" but of course I never said that at the restaurant. Nonetheless, I miss him and his food. My hubby seemed to know all about the regular customers there from his visits. I don't remember all the details, but definitely some characters.

The restaurant on Broadway was family-run: mother, uncle and son who worked there on his days-off from his "regular" job (a cook/chef at another popular Chicago restaurant and a guy whom many people (both women and gay male friends of mine) thought was drop dead gorgeous). Gyros was a popular menu item, but a bigger draw seened to be the home-cooked Greek meals. The restaurant closed, I'm told, because the woman owner wanted to return to Greece. The gyros served there are my "good standard" and I've yet to find something elsewhere as good.

Gyros on a Spit, was one of our favs. Our first visit was September 28, 1973. At the time, it was run by a husband and wife team. Their kids would be there on weekends (they were little back then), bussing tables. There was a MickyD a few doors south, which was our first stop to pick up a burger and fries for our three year old. The owners thought she was cute, and would give her one of the green frogs, that were a long running fav. A while back, the owner passed away, and his wife and kids, with help from the brother, worked on. We were very sorry to see them close.

PS. Our first visit, was on our fifth anniversary. My daughter, after college, took an apartment about a block away, and still did not eat the Gyros.

Food Nut wrote:I ended up having the gyros platter at George's on Damen. It was good, with a creamy, thick homemade sauce, enough meat for two meals, and included two pita , olives, at least three sliced, red-ripe roma tomatoes, thinly sliced onion, feta, cucumbers, a pepperoncini, very good fries and a drink. I think it was $5.99 or $6.99.

It was prepared by George himself.

The meat actually tasted better reheated the following day.

George's Hot Dogs
1876 N. Damen Ave.
773-227-4034

George's is the closest to me of the gyro places mentioned. While it's along my walking route home from the Metra, I'd never stopped in.

The first thing my wife said when she brought home a gyro platter today was: "How is it that we've never been to this place of greasy delights?" By greasy, she meant good. By delight, she was right.

For close to 8 bucks, we got a great, tasty, and saisfying meal, as Food Nut described (but no drink included). The food was good enough reason to go back, but it was the wife's description of the place that makes it a no-brainer. The place was packed and everybody seemed to know George. Ancient signs for the "daily" special were tacked everywhere, and people were ordering items that just weren't on the menu.

Seemed like meat was shaved off a spit, but no visual confirmation. And frankly, for this cheap and this good -- I just want more.

Zee

As I'm reading through other threads to get an idea of where to go for dinner tonight I come across this thread: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=6382 in which there's this recommendation:

If you crave Greek food, try Central Gyros on Central just south of Belmont.

Central Gyros is a name I've been trying to think of because several Greek restaurant owner friends of mine made mention of it in the past as a "do not miss" gyros place. I don't get into that neighborhood often anymore, but, given the current discussion on gyros . . . how can I not?

Anybody have experience at Central Gyros that they'd like to share?

CMC wrote:that place on broadway remains the gold standard by which i judge all other gyros. funny i can't remember the name either.

the reason most gyro places are pretty much the same is that they pretty much all use the same frozen slab from kronos. the place on broadway is the only fast food place that i've been to that made it's own gyro meat.

The place on Broadway WAS the best, closed up shop and went back to the old country. Fabulous greek food.

ahh but apparently, you never had angelo's gyros up on morse ave, in the late seventies, early eighties.

house made, served up off the spit or grilled off the pit.

this man sent me off on a quest.